5 Proven Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management

Transcript

I'm Samantha Ibarguen and I'm an energy healer and a wellness consultant in New York City. You can find out more about me and what I do at Integrated Wellness — www.igwell.com.

So we all might have our own way to reduce stress and anxiety in our own life. These are some popular ways to reduce stress that I like. One great way to reduce stress is to practice yoga. It's so healing to give yourself an hour or an hour and a half window in your day outside of your hectic schedule to come into the room, to come onto your yoga mat, and just focus on what you are doing in that moment. Yoga ties together the breath, the mind, and the body, so that you come out of anxiety, you come out of worry, you are not worrying about what's gonna happen in the next hour in the next day or even in the next week. You are present with yourself, you are focused, you are grounded, and you are in contact with yourself. Another great way to relieve stress and anxiety is hiking. It's fairly logical — getting out into nature is so relaxing, it's so beautiful. If you work or if you live in a big city, getting out into the fresh air, getting out among the plants, just taking some deep breaths, taking in the environment, hiking, being in nature decreases your nervous system stimulation. Also when you are in nature, you can shift your attention from voluntary, where your mind is focusing on one particular thing, to involuntary, where you can just sort of witness what's going on around you without having to zero in on one particular thing. Meditation is another excellent way to reduce stress and anxiety. Basically, what happens in the body when we meditate is the exact apposite of what happens in the body during the stress response. So, our heart rate decreases, we start to take nice deep breaths, we become calm, we become peaceful, and we are able to clear our minds. Another easy way to reduce stress is listening to relaxing music. We get home, choose a piece of music that, that's pleasing to you and it's easy to sit back, relax, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and just allow yourself to get lost in the feeling of the music. Not thinking about anything too hard and just letting go. And finally, a really pleasurable way to reduce stress and anxiety is massage. Massage relieves tension, it also boosts the immune system. As toxins are flushed from the system, blood and oxygen are able to be circulated through the system, which just makes us feel better.